Chapter 29 Connolly vs. Samuelson
Let every eye negotiate for itself, and trust no agent. William Shakespeare
I. Teacher to Teacher Dialogue
Agency law is very important in a basic undergraduate law course in that it represents a synergy of two otherwise distinctive bodies of law: contracts and torts. Because these topics are a precondition to a good foundation to agency, I never teach agency before having taught both contracts and torts. In addition, I have found it useful to remind students of the constant interplay that goes on between these two areas of law. For example, I will go through the creation of the agency relationship (which highlights contract elements), involve a third party (by way of tort), and decide whether any defenses may apply (possibilities from both the law of contracts and torts). Invariably, certain patterns of behavior can be identified which can be used to help students ask key questions about agency-based issues. Qui facit per alium facit per se. He who acts through another, acts himself. This simple Latin phrase provides the keystone upon which the mutual obligations of agency law rest. Agency is defined by Section 1 of the Second Restatement of Agency as: The fiduciary relation which results from the manifestation of consent by one person to another that the other shall act on his behalf and subject to his control, and consent by the other so to act. Agency is a legally recognized relationship that allows an attribution of one person’s behavior to another. This carryover process is two-sided in that both benefit and burden inure to the parties involved in the agency relationship. Under the basic doctrine of agency, the principal is allowed to reap the beneficial harvest of the agent’s actions made on his or her behalf. For example, assume an agent has agreed to be paid a set salary of $100 for selling certain kinds of goods. The principal gets to keep the net profits from that agent’s selling activities, be they $100
I. Teacher to Teacher Dialogue
Agency law is very important in a basic undergraduate law course in that it represents a synergy of two otherwise distinctive bodies of law: contracts and torts. Because these topics are a precondition to a good foundation to agency, I never teach agency before having taught both contracts and torts. In addition, I have found it useful to remind students of the constant interplay that goes on between these two areas of law. For example, I will go through the creation of the agency relationship (which highlights contract elements), involve a third party (by way of tort), and decide whether any defenses may apply (possibilities from both the law of contracts and torts). Invariably, certain patterns of behavior can be identified which can be used to help students ask key questions about agency-based issues. Qui facit per alium facit per se. He who acts through another, acts himself. This simple Latin phrase provides the keystone upon which the mutual obligations of agency law rest. Agency is defined by Section 1 of the Second Restatement of Agency as: The fiduciary relation which results from the manifestation of consent by one person to another that the other shall act on his behalf and subject to his control, and consent by the other so to act. Agency is a legally recognized relationship that allows an attribution of one person’s behavior to another. This carryover process is two-sided in that both benefit and burden inure to the parties involved in the agency relationship. Under the basic doctrine of agency, the principal is allowed to reap the beneficial harvest of the agent’s actions made on his or her behalf. For example, assume an agent has agreed to be paid a set salary of $100 for selling certain kinds of goods. The principal gets to keep the net profits from that agent’s selling activities, be they $100